Die Hard rules US on $25m

If the return of Fox’s John McClane drew the most film-goers in North America over Presidents Day weekend, it was only slightly more edifying than a second helping of Universal’s Identity Thief.

A Good Day To Die Hard starring Bruce Willis trumped last weekend’s comedy champion by a slim margin on an estimated $25m versus $23.4m. It remains to be seen who will prevail over the full extent of the bank holiday weekend when the studios issue four-day estimates on Monday.

Overall weekend business of $126.4m climbed approximately 47% against the previous weekend although the year-on-year tally slipped around 12% compared to the three-day 2012 session of $124.3m when Safe House climbed to the top in its second weekend.

Turning to the other new releases, Relativity released the romance Safe Haven from Lasse Hallstrom on a good result in third place, TWC opened the animation Escape From Planet Earth decently in fourth and Warner Bros debuted the drama Beautiful Creatures at number six.

TWC’s Silver Linings Playbook ranks eighth in its 14th weekend in release on $98.5m and the Oscar-nominated rom-com will cross $100m by next weekend.

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G.I. Joe: Retaliation from Paramount, MGM and David Ellison’s slate financier Skydance Productions arrived on an estimated $41.2m to set the second best three-day Easter opening after Clash Of The Titans posted $61.2m in 2010.

The latest DreamWorks Animation family spectacle debuted top of the North American charts on an estimated $44.7m through Fox, followed by an impressive $30.5m launch through FilmDistrict for the Gerard Butler action thriller Olympus Has Fallen.

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